386 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [Vol. IX. 



Rev. Mr. Gillings* repeats the story that the Veddas origin- 

 ally formed a part of a Sinhalese community living on the 

 sea coast of India, and that from there they had been trans- 

 ported for certain offences over to the Island at a very early 

 period, and before the Sinhalese, as a people, had set foot on 

 its shores. But we do not find it said anywhere that such a 

 Sinhalese community had existed on the Indian coast. More- 

 over, the Vedda language, if any such separation from a com- 

 mon Aryan family had so early taken place, must have 

 retained certain peculiarities belonging to that earlier period 

 of development ; and of this also nothing is known. 



The explanation should be much simpler, if one might 

 assume that the Veddas were originally of the Dravidian 

 race, or at least nearly related to the Dravidians ; or even if 

 different from them, at any rate, a savage aboriginal tribe ; 

 and that they only received their present language subse- 

 quently from their Aryan conquerors. With such an 

 assumption the identity of this language with the Sinhalese, 

 which is defended by authorities, would be supported without 

 an effort. But it cannot be denied that it is difficult to con- 

 ceive how the process of Sinhalesing the language could 

 have been accomplished, whilst their whole way of living, 

 their customs and habits remained wholly unchanged. 



In the name chosen by Childers of " Wild Sinhalese," little 

 is gained. If it means savages with a Sinhalese language, 

 we have a fact given us, but no explanation. If, on the other 

 hand, it means Sinhalese who have become savage, we should 

 then, with our explanations, have to fall back on some period 

 after Wijayo, and contrary to all common experience be 

 forced to add the hypothesis (against which I protested in a 

 former passage) that the Veddas from a high state of com- 

 parative civilisation, such as plainly had once been attained 

 by the Sinhalese, have sunk to the lowest level of human 



Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1853, p. 84. 



